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Coco coir in poop!!!

Hi everyone so I am a little worried about my little guy. I use fibredust coco coir as my substrate in my tortoises enclosure because it seems you guys recommend that the most. Today I found little strings of it in my tortoises poop and coming out of him. (Yes it was pretty gross) he seems to be completely fine and I don't think he's eating it on purpose. He always sits right on top of his food which makes it dirty and then he eats it while eating his food. I am worried about him getting impacted. He seems to poop regularly and fine though do you guys have any thoughts?

Hi everyone so I am a little worried about my little guy. I use fibredust coco coir as my substrate in my tortoises enclosure because it seems you guys recommend that the most. Today I found little strings of it in my tortoises poop and coming out of him. (Yes it was pretty gross) he seems to be completely fine and I don't think he's eating it on purpose. He always sits right on top of his food which makes it dirty and then he eats it while eating his food. I am worried about him getting impacted. He seems to poop regularly and fine though do you guys have any thoughts?

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Coco coir is digestible, so he should be fine. If you want a substrate that isn’t so messy, orchid bark/reptibark/fir bark is a really good choice

I believe the cheaper place to buy it is at garden centers. You can usually find it in bulk there. You can get it at pet stores, it is labeled as reptabark, but if you go that route it's a lot more expensive.

I believe the cheaper place to buy it is at garden centers. You can usually find it in bulk there. You can get it at pet stores, it is labeled as reptabark, but if you go that route it's a lot more expensive.

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I kept mine on the coir and soil from my garden for the first 2 yrs or so, but to keep my food and water dish cleen, I had the surface covered with sheet moss and flat rocks in different areas
this is probably not the best pic but i can’t find any others right now. I also kept this substrate the entire time without ever changing it bcs it had several fifferent critters and live plants living in there. I did have to replace sheets of moss and occasionally put new pla ts in, but that was very minor work and minor expense. By the way, right now my torts spend only night time inside and I do use the bark substrate for them now.

I kept mine on the coir and soil from my garden for the first 2 yrs or so, but to keep my food and water dish cleen, I had the surface covered with sheet moss and flat rocks in different areas
View attachment 236273
this is probably not the best pic but i can’t find any others right now. I also kept this substrate the entire time without ever changing it bcs it had several fifferent critters and live plants living in there. I did have to replace sheets of moss and occasionally put new pla ts in, but that was very minor work and minor expense. By the way, right now my torts spend only night time inside and I do use the bark substrate for them now.

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Your enclosure looks absolutely beautiful. I had Sheldon down on reptabark too. It was pretty expensive to fill his 5x4 table with it 5 inches deep . I didn't know you could buy the same stuff at garden centers until after I joined the forum lol. Again nice job on your enclosure it looks great!!

Hi everyone so I am a little worried about my little guy. I use fibredust coco coir as my substrate in my tortoises enclosure because it seems you guys recommend that the most. Today I found little strings of it in my tortoises poop and coming out of him. (Yes it was pretty gross) he seems to be completely fine and I don't think he's eating it on purpose. He always sits right on top of his food which makes it dirty and then he eats it while eating his food. I am worried about him getting impacted. He seems to poop regularly and fine though do you guys have any thoughts?

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1. Are you using coloured lights at all?

Torts have excellent colour vision, but poor intelligence, and will eat things coloured red or purple by lights thinking that they are sweet and tasty... even substrate. We see it regularly. Coloured lights are no good for basking and your tort needs complete darkness at night. If supplementary heat is needed use a Ceramic Heat Emitter (CHE) with a thermostat.

2. Use a large piece of flat rock or slate as a plate. Not only does this help maintain the beak with wear and tear, but it also minimises the amount of food dragged into substrate.

Place the food plate in the middle of the enclosure, not an edge or corner, as torts like to patrol the boundaries and are less likely to march through their dinner. Do the same with the water bowl.

I believe the cheaper place to buy it is at garden centers. You can usually find it in bulk there. You can get it at pet stores, it is labeled as reptabark, but if you go that route it's a lot more expensive.

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Thank you I thought it was ripped apart but didn’t realize that it could be acquired much cheaper at a garden center under the other name. I very much appreciate the information. And I’m sure my Morty will too!

Thank you I thought it was ripped apart but didn’t realize that it could be acquired much cheaper at a garden center under the other name. I very much appreciate the information. And I’m sure my Morty will too!

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